Supreme Court Rules Tribunal Fees Unlawful

August 3, 2017

In our latest briefing note Nick Kennan discusses the reasoning of the Supreme Court in R (on the application of UNISON v Lord Chancellor [2017] UKSC 51 when deciding that Tribunal Fees are unlawful. This groundbreaking decision paths the way for the scrapping of Tribunal Fees immediately on the grounds there is a constitutional right of access to justice and that statutory rights cannot be cut down by subordinate legislation passed under the auspices of a different Act of Parliament.

Although it was accepted that fees could be justifiable in that they provide a resource for the justice system. They are only justifiable when they do not pose a real risk of preventing access to justice and the drop in employment law claims has been “so sharp, so substantial, and so sustained as to warrant the conclusion that a significant number of people who would otherwise have brought claims have the fees to be unaffordable” therefore baring access to justice.